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UCF Unveils $50M Facility Plan for ‘Football Campus’

The University of Central Florida (UCF) has grand plans for the future of its athletics campus.

Last week, UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir announced a $50 million “football campus” facility plan that would include enhancements to the Bounce House, like additional premium seating and a new adjoining football facility.

According to a recent report from UCFSports.com, Mohajir outlined the details of previous facility upgrades that were recently completed this summer, including a refreshed Wany Densch Sports Center, the replacement of the Nicholson Fieldhouse artificial turf, softball upgrades including renovated locker room, new turf at John Euliano Park in the foul territory and updating the women’s basketball team’s locker room.

ucfBelow is an excerpt from UCFSports.com’s report on Mohajir’s announcement.

Their vision is a “one-of-a-kind concept” of a “football campus” that will include housing, nutrition, sports medicine, sports performance, academics, and career services all in the same area.

The first image displayed was an aerial shot showing the Bounce House and facilities, which includes a relocated spot for the planned McNamara Recovery River (new name) and a new South End Zone facility.

In outlining the need for Recovery River, Mohajir name dropped Bo Jackson as a player who benefited from water therapy.

How will these projects be phased in? The first objective will be to shift over the existing fields to make room for Recovery River and an expanded parking lot. “Nicholson Plaza” will be the name as it will become the “front porch” in regards to stadium access.

Mohajir talked about the need to add permanent cold pools for post-practice as current UCF players “jump in trash cans full of ice.”

“CoveGating” will also be a revenue stream for Recovery River, and they will rent it out during the offseason. “Everything here has the ability to generate money except for the player areas.”

The second project will be the new stadium/football facility, called the “Launch Club” which celebrates their space heritage. “From that club, you can see the launches from the Space Coast which will be a unique feature that nobody else in the country has. We’re trying to be indigenous to who we are.”

The UCF football coaches are currently housed in the Wayne Densch Sports Center and they’re “on top of each other,” Mohajir said, referring to the cramped quarters for expanded staff. So in this concept, they will move from the WD into the new “Launch Club” area inside the Bounce House. “Every coach in America wants their offices in the stadium.” The top level of the building is the actual club for premium seating, but it will double as a lunch/dinner/reception spot that can be rented out. It will also be a built-in “faculty/staff club.”

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The UCF Launch Club seating will be in a “loge box” configuration, taking up the current location of the upper south end zone.

The coaches’ families will also have their own isolated seating area away from the rest of the stadium, so they are not subjected to “comments from fans.”

Mohajir, commenting on the beautiful view of one rendering, “who wouldn’t want to come here and be a student-athlete?” Then added, “You see some schools building $100M facilities, even in this state. We don’t need to do that. You know why? Because there’s a lot of things to do here. In those towns, there’s nothing to do.”

To read the full report from UCFSports.com, click here